The ruling comes as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) looks to lower the cost of cellphone plans and increase competition.

For years, Canadian consumers have complained about high cellular bills, which rank among the steepest in the world, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has threatened to take action if the providers failed to cut bills by 25 per cent.

The CRTC has since been under pressure to increase competition and lower prices where three companies — Bell, Telus and Rogers — control over 80 per cent of the mobile subscriber market.

Antitrust regulators for this reason have stalled the $16 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers, on the grounds that the deal would further reduce competition.

In April last year, CRTC ruled that large telecoms firms must offer wholesale wireless access to so-called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) — smaller outfits that can then resell the capacity at reduced retail prices and pass on the savings to consumers — but with several stipulations that were seen as wins for big companies.

In Wednesday’s ruling — which, along with the nationwide big three, will also apply to SaskTel, Saskatchewan’s Crown-owned phone and cellular utility — CRTC said the service will be mandated for seven years, giving the regional providers time to build and expand their wireless networks.

The CRTC said Wednesday its new ruling is “opening the door for more companies, in particular smaller regional wireless providers in more rural areas, to provide greater competition and choice to more Canadians by accessing the wireless networks of Canada’s largest providers.”

In addition, prices for MVNO access must be negotiated between the providers.

Bell, Telus and Rogers did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

— Reporting for Reuters by Eva Mathews in Bangalore; includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

The post CRTC asks big telcos to share network with smaller rural players appeared first on Grainews.

New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications, whose client list already includes over a million rural customers in all provinces, announced it has closed its deal to buy Silo for an undisclosed sum.

The deal gives Xplornet over 100 fixed wireless towers, including LTE sites, as well as Silo’s fibre-to-the-home network in the region and the Brantford-based company’s customer list.

Silo customers “can expect the same friendly, local service as Xplornet integrates the networks, and upgrades sites with LTE and unlimited data,” Xplornet said in a release Thursday.

Xplornet also said Silo’s fibre-to-the-home network lines up with its own previously announced fibre expansion plans in eastern Ontario and Atlantic Canada, while the Ontario company’s over-the-air assets “complement” its own holdings and spectrum in the region.

Xplornet in September picked up $16 million in federal funding for a project to set up over 600 km of fibre optic cable as well as 5G-ready broadband infrastructure in eastern Ontario, which it expects to complete in 2022.

The company has already been active in southwestern Ontario for years, having bought Everus Communications’ operations out of receivership in 2010.

In Xplornet’s release Thursday, Silo CEO Andreas Wiatowski said the Ontario company “has been connecting the region for almost 13 years using some of the latest fibre and wireless technologies” and tying those in with Xplornet’s spectrum holdings “will allow for unprecedented access and speeds.”

“This is an exciting time for our company and in particular for our customers in this region,” Xplornet executive vice-president Bill Macdonald said in the same release. “We are making major investments in our network to give our customers more: faster speeds, unlimited data, and access to the latest 5G-ready internet services.”

Xplornet announced a deal in September to sub-license 40MHz of AWS-4 spectrum, which it said covers most rural households across all 10 provinces and would allow it to build a national 5G wireless broadband network for rural Canadians. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Xplornet buys Ontario’s Silo Wireless appeared first on Grainews.

Xplornet Communications announced Monday it has signed a deal to buy the internet access business of Brandon-based NetSet Communications.

Financial terms of the deal for the privately-held Manitoba company weren’t disclosed, except for a description of the deal as “the largest in Xplornet’s history” and an expected closing date of Oct. 31.

Xplornet said it expects to complement NetSet’s existing services by further expanding the company’s wireless internet footprint and adding new products such as satellite internet, home phone and mobile wireless service in 2018.

Xplornet said it will also maintain the NetSet trade name and retain “virtually all” of NetSet’s employees and business operations in Brandon and Winnipeg.

NetSet founder Charlie Clark will continue in an “advisory role” and will continue to own the company’s real estate, Xplornet said, and will work with NetSet partners Tami-Rae Rourke and Donovan McIvor to oversee growth of NetSet’s telecommunications tower network.

NetSet’s network is designed and set up around the current WiMAX platform and is fully upgradable to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) internet, the company said.

The federal government last year pledged up to $9.9 million for NetSet to provide high-speed Internet services targeting almost 10,000 homes in the Dauphin–Swan River–Marquette area. That project was expected to be completed by the end of this year, delivering internet speeds of at least five Mbps (megabits per second).

NetSet, which launched in 2001, bills itself as “the ideal solution for government, commercial, agriculture-based businesses and residential users.”

Woodstock, N.B.-based Xplornet, which in January signed a $28.75 million deal to buy Saskatchewan rural high-speed wireless provider YourLink, said the NetSet deal “accelerates the company’s continued expansion across Western Canada.” — AGCanada.com Network

The post Xplornet to buy NetSet appeared first on Grainews.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Thursday issued a directive to that effect to all wireless service providers.

The alert system would allow emergency management officials to warn Canadians via mobile devices of “dangers to life and property.”

The alerts would go to mobile phones and other mobile devices connected to LTE (long-term evolution) networks, which are available to over 97 per cent of Canadians, the CRTC said.

Messages would be issued by federal, provincial and territorial governments and emergency management officials to warn the public of “imminent threats” such as fires, tornadoes, floods, water contamination and Amber alerts, the CRTC said.

Service providers are expected to work with their federal, provincial and territorial counterparts to develop an awareness campaign and a test schedule.

The CRTC’s interconnection steering committee network technology working group is expected to file a progress report by July 5 and a final report by Oct. 3, 2017, on a proposed awareness campaign and test schedule.

The exact launch date for the distribution of alerts would be announced once “all required functionalities are in place,” the commission said.

Requiring “pre-LTE” networks such as 2G and 3G to carry alerts would increase deployment costs and delay deployment of wireless alerts, the CRTC said, while exempting pre-LTE networks would have “minimal impact” on alert coverage.

Canadians getting alerts via mobile devices would hear the same alert tone as they now do via radio and TV, and receive a “unique vibration cadence” when an alert is issued.

The CRTC has required since 2014 that AM, FM and over-the-air TV stations and “subscription-based” service providers must broadcast emergency alert messages. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Wireless providers ordered to set up alert system appeared first on Grainews.

New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications on Monday announced an all-cash $28.75 million deal with Victoria-based Vecima Networks for the “remaining assets” of Vecima’s YourLink business.

YourLink, based in Saskatoon, is a major wireless service provider for rural Saskatchewan, offering fixed broadband wireless data and telephone access for residential and business users.

The company in mid-2015 announced major expansions and upgrades of its Saskatchewan network, for which it picked up $4.63 million in federal funding. Those expansions are expected to connect over 40,000 additional homes by the end of April next year, at a minimum speed of five MB per second.

YourLink, Xplornet said, “will continue to operate and deliver its high-quality services in Saskatchewan while integrating operations into Xplornet regional and national delivery teams.”

The deal involves a payment of $20 million, made Thursday, with the $8.75 million balance to follow before the end of the second calendar quarter of 2017, Vecima said.

The deal is subject to the usual closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including transfer of radio spectrum licenses, Vecima said.

Vecima CEO Sumit Kumar said Monday the company’s “strategic priority” in the past five years has been to “monetize non-core assets and focus on our core technology business.”

Vecima, which makes broadband hardware mainly for the business services market, in the past five years has also shed its BC Cable business and “excess” radio spectrum and real estate, including a former manufacturing facility in Saskatoon.

“We are confident that our vision to extend the reach of broadband to more people in Saskatchewan will now be pursued by a highly focused national broadband service provider that is dedicated to building a stronger, more connected digital Canada.”

The deal “will increase our fixed wireless broadband footprint in Saskatchewan and support Xplornet’s mission to make affordable, fast and reliable broadband Internet services available to rural Canadians,” Xplornet CEO Allison Lenehan said in a release.

Xplornet said the YourLink deal is “complementary” to its own operations; Lenehan said the company believes the deal “will allow us to provide even more value for YourLink customers.”

Xplornet said Monday it plans to further expand its own network with “continued extension” of its LTE coverage and the launch of two new satellites offering internet download speeds “not previously seen in many parts of rural Canada.”

Areas of Saskatchewan that were earmarked for expanded YourLink high-speed service through the company’s 2015 plan included Albertville, Battleford, Carruthers, Dinsmore, Estevan, Loon Lake, Melfort, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Rouleau, Swift Current, Tompkins, Wakaw Lake, Weldon and Yorkton. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Xplornet buying YourLink appeared first on Grainews.

“Even two years ago, it was way worse out there in terms of apps, in terms of what’s possible,” said Dean Harder, a Manitoba rep and board member with the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Technology has been edging into farming for years — not just in machinery such as combines or tractors, but in sensors for measuring yield and soil moisture, drones for scouting fields, mobile apps and more.

“It really spreads the gamut, between just basic simple apps for recording your input in a more succinct way, to stuff like figuring out your nutrient level,” said Harder, a grain and oilseed grower near Lowe Farm, Man., about 45 km northeast of Winkler.

“I think the shifts are happening. We’re just barely on the verge.”

But the extent to which farmers are able to connect with ag tech also depends on their connections.

People living in rural areas are more likely to experience slower download speeds and monthly caps, and are twice as likely as their urban counterparts to be dissatisfied with their service, according to the most recent survey from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), released March 18.

“This has been an issue for years,” Harder said.

Many farmers have turned to using data on their phones, which outpaces their Wi-Fi services — but using that data often comes at a higher cost, he said.

“There needs to be room for us to play. To be able to work with it, for it to be able to work with our farms.”

Since Harder’s farm is about an hour out of Winnipeg, his service is sometimes slow but OK overall.

“Top of the hill”

Next door in Saskatchewan, however, an interactive map of high-speed internet availability in Canada, released last week by the CRTC, shows many blank spots in rural areas.

“The coverage is there if you’re on top of the hill, but if you go into the field the coverage is gone,” said Norm Hall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and a farmer at Wynyard, Sask., about 140 km northwest of Yorkton.

A lack of coverage — and even an inability to make cellphone calls — is more than an inconvenience for farmers, he said. “It’s a safety issue. That cellphone is your lifeline.”

Slow and sometimes unavailable internet isn’t the only reason some farmers are apprehensive about integrating technology.

“My father’s old-school, he doesn’t even use a computer at all,” Harder said. “And you also have to have workers on the farm who also are willing to integrate that.”

But some apps are catering to that, Harder said, noting one app he uses with quick-convert options for recording how much grain goes into a bin.

“What’s nice is you can do it in pounds, kilograms or bushels right on the spot,” he said. “It’s so nice when you’re dealing with a variety of generations.”

Technology can be used to improve crop management and unnecessary spraying, said Hall, who added he has seen producers use drones to scout fields rather than walk through and pick out individual leaves.

“The younger guys coming in are using a whole lot more,” he said.

Learning about new technology isn’t worthwhile for some producers, especially those nearing retirement, he added.

“You’re not going to spend the money and do the education that needs to happen to get to that point, and to be able to use this stuff,” he said.

“But if you’ve got your whole career ahead of you, you’re going to do everything you can to improve the management and operation of your farm if you can.”

Some producers are concerned about companies being able to record and use their information against them, Harder said.

“There’s kind of a fear amongst farmers of like ‘If you’re able to record all my information — what I do, what I put in the field, and then what my outcome is in terms of harvest — is that OK for the company to have?'”

To an extent, he said, data can show a farmer did a good job, but sometimes technology such as yield monitors hasn’t been synchronized properly and could be inaccurate.

The NFU sees an opportunity for technology to be used more on farms, he said.

“Farmers have been open to things like tractor technology,” he said. “But there’s so much potential, especially as we move forward.”

— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow her at @jade_markus on Twitter.

The post Prairie farmers look to increase tech use, but face obstacles appeared first on Grainews.